People: Chair of newly formed Northern Powerhouse body announced; New appointments at law firm; and more

The chair of the Leeds City Region LEP, Roger Marsh, has been announced as the chair of a newly-formed government body set to focus on the Northern Powerhouse.

The chairs of each of the eleven Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) will sit on a newly formed, Government-funded board called the NP11. Christine Gaskell, chair of the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership takes the role of Vice-chair of the NP11.

Marsh, chair of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and of the newly formed NP11 Board, said: “As someone born in the North East, who spent their career in Yorkshire and who has been passionate about the North’s potential as a driving force for national productivity and competitiveness for decades, I am delighted to have been asked to chair this new body.

“By bringing together the private and public sectors, local enterprise partnerships are in a unique position to unite northern business and civic leaders behind a common goal of building a true northern economic powerhouse that brings prosperity to everyone who lives and works in the North, while also competing for the country globally.

“Our country’s success is built on northern industry, innovation, and determination. As LEP Chairs we have taken important steps in recent years to transform our own regional economies, and now I look forward to working collaboratively with the NP11 Vice-Chair, Christine Gaskell, and the other nine northern LEP Chairs to achieve extraordinary, sustained growth that we can all share in.”

The board will act as one voice representing each of their regions as a modern day ‘Council for the North’ to work with and advise the Government on issues such as how to increase productivity, overcome regional disparities in economic growth and tackle the historic north-south divide.

Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry MP said: “For the first time since 1472, we will bring together the business voices of the Northern Powerhouse in our Council for the North. They have one task: to enrich all the peoples of the North of England – this is the foundation stone of the Northern Powerhouse and, with the skills and expertise of the NP11, we will shift the North’s economy into overdrive.”

The NP11 will report on their progress to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on a quarterly basis.

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Law firm Blacks has announced that its commercial property team has been bolstered with the arrival of Marc Warren as Partner and Kevin Hostford as Legal Director.

Warren has extensive experience in commercial property and acts for a wide variety of clients including corporate occupiers, investors, lenders, borrowers and developers. He joins Blacks from the Leeds office of a national law firm.

Hotsford joins Blacks from a previous role at Whitaker Firth and specialises in commercial acquisitions and disposals, as well as residential purchases and sales for high net worth individuals.

The Property Litigation team has also expanded with the appointment of Samantha Bell as Solicitor. Since qualifying in 2013 Samantha has been dealing with property related legal disputes acting on behalf of landowners, developers, landlords and tenants. Bell specialises in adverse possession, boundary disputes, protecting property interests and has extensive experience working in the retail sector.

Warren said: “Having the opportunity to work as Partner at Blacks is a real privilege. Blacks is well established and a strong property focussed firm and I am really looking forward to working with such a fantastic team and the new opportunities this role will provide.”

Head of Commercial Property, Nick Dyson, commented: “This is an exciting time for Marc, Kevin and Samantha to join. Their knowledge, experience and expertise will really strengthen the services we provide to our clients including property developers and investors.”